Smith Mountain Lake September Fishing Report - Fall turnover

Early fall brings lots of moving fish and covering water is by far the most important approach to have a great day on the water. Each day can change which fish will be active and there are fish in all areas of the lake at this point. Keep an eye on up coming cold fronts and changing weather to hit the water pre-front. This is a great time to throw a topwater around points and rock transitions. A crankbait or jerkbait while windy is also a great tool during the changing weather. Don’t be afraid to head to the way backs of creeks early to check for early arrivers looking to eat shad moving back.

Striper fishing is still good on main lake points and river edge rock. A fluke, topwater or jerkbait are a great way to catch some. Watch for birds and fishing school and get your boat just within casting distance.

Largemouth and Smallmouth are moving daily and setting up for their fall patterns. Fish can be found on the main lake, secondary points and in the backs of pockets. Base you location on wind. A squarebill crank on riprap is a good start, a buzzbait or whopper plopper are good topwater options and a jig flipped into rock transitions should have all fish around.

Here are some great baits to check out squarebills crankbaits buzzbaits whoppers jerkbaits